Thursday, 15 October 2015

On Oct. 15, we said goodbye to the country and headed to Paris. I enjoyed my journey with my pen and my mini memories.
Along the route we passed clusters of villages, all the same at least that is what it looked like from the bus. The rolling hills and golden fields each village had a church steeple. It was a bright morning sky even though the weather person said that it was going to rain today!

We arrived in Paris dropped our group off at the hotel and then hopped into a taxi and went to find our accommodation. We had rented an apartment, 20 Rue Saint Sauveur, and were excited to see that it was all we hoped. It was. Our friends from Denmark were to meet us there. Their flight landed at 14:45 at Charles de Gualle . They hadn't made arrangements for their transfer so spent time looking around the airport. They were approached by a man who said he could take them to 20 Rue Saint Sauveur and they thought the price was right. Always a problem at airports. They accepted a ride and travelled into the city with a non-licensed driver. They probably paid more then they should of but the adventure was interesting and they arrived safe and sound.

You can see that the second mini is looking out the window at our apartment. It was into a court yard. We spent the rest of our holiday enjoying Paris.

Wednesday, 14 October 2015

Oct. 14, 2013
Monet's Garden...An amazing day.
No painting in the garden is allowed except by special permission. Our guide was especially good. I felt I really had a door opened to the life of Monet and his family.

Things I remembered she said:
Monet had 6 gardeners on his 8 acres. The water gardener had to wash the leaves of the waterlilies in the middle of the night, so Monet if he wish to paint could capture the light reflecting off them. They were near a dirt road with lots of traffic, causing lots of dust.

Visiting the garden is wonderful and an experience most times of the year. Spring for tulips, Summer - waterlilies, and Fall - asters, daisies. Summer of course is the busiest time of the year for tourists. In July and August you could wait in long lines to move from one garden to the next through a tunnel, single file.

The Benches in the garden were designed and built by Monet. They looked brand new!

He painted light and did a series of paintings in the pond / waterlily garden. Ten paintings at one time to reflect the change of light every 7 minutes.

I will take my sketch book next visit as I saw many school children carrying theirs and some of our group had a pleasant time sketching near Monet's home.

Walking in the garden is like walking in his paintings, it would have been difficult to stop and not see it all.

The following sketch was in the village of Giverny before we went into the garden. We were asked to sketch something and then pick out a small part of it and paint it. This was to show us how many paintings are in one and how important it is to simplify.
It really is amazing when you give it a try. Even more so when you are painting you actually remember to do it.

Did you ever think that if you left something the necessary information to continue, when you are ready would not be there? That is what happened here. I have been trying and trying to get back to sharing my travels but just couldn't work it out. BING it came to me.

Hello all!
When I left you it was Oct. 10, 2013. Imagine. I was travelling in France on a watercolour workshop.

So here we are it is never too late to share the excitement of travel. As you can see by the notation on the side we were in Honfleur October 12-13 2013. Our accommodation the "Le Hotel Cheval Blanc" was right in the harbour and we couldn't ask for more. The weather wasn't the greatest but our spirits were high so out we went paint brush in hand. The next page in my sketch book is a sketch and if far from being done so I would include it. What you need to know is what is written around the sketch. Oct. 13, 2013 forecast sunny to cloudy, mostly cloudy and cold but so much to see, so much to paint - blue shadows pink midtown, lunch on my own 'crepe poullette at 'Creperie des Arts ' Our day included a visit to the Musee Boudin, a popular stop for artists out to capture the essence of Honfleur. The Sainte Catherine's Clock Tower an amazing wooden structure in the middle of the main square had all the history that you could want. My problem was I spent too much time worrying about the perspective and not enough with my brush. Next time I will work faster. It is certainly an interesting challenge.

Samuel Champlain departed from this harbour in 1608 to the Americas where he founded